December 21, 2013

AmeriCorps of the month member: Ms. Aileen Tschiderer.Aileen is a full-time AmeriCorps member who serves at the REAL School on Mackworth Island. Currently Aileen heads up the school’s Teen Aspirations Program where she is responsible for helping students develop work readiness skills. Aileen works tirelessly to insure that REAL School students have the background experiences that they need to find employment and meaningful work co-op experiences. Aileen has broadened the REAL School’s presence in the communities that the school serves and has helped our students identify their passions and interests.

Aileen is a 2012 graduate of Bowdoin College with a BA in English and Spanish. At Bowdoin, Aileen was a publicity fellow at the McKeen Center for the Common Good. Since graduation Aileen has used her considerable skills in organizational outreach. Aileen spent some time in Massachusetts as an outreach communications intern at Allstron Brighton CDC. We are now thrilled to have her serving as a National Service AmeriCorps member at the REAL School. In the month of November, Aileen broke ground with our students setting numerous students up with interviews, college readiness programming, and outreach. Aileen has made connections with a whole variety of businesses, non-profits and civic organizations that have increased the post secondary opportunities for REAL School students. In addition to being Teen Aspirations facilitator, Aileen helped to organize multiple fundraisers, and has supported classroom activities throughout the school.Learn more about The REAL School at www.realschool.org.

The Windham Police Department has been
given a $5,000 grant for the National “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over”
campaign, which began December 13 and will run for two weeks. It will continue
for two weeks in August as well.

“Once a night until January 1st.
We will be in different places running a saturation patrol. We hit the entire
town,” said Sergeant Peter Fulton, who wrote the grant request. “There will be
an extra patrol vehicle out to monitor the roadway looking for drunk drivers,”
he said.

The national campaign is funded by the
Maine Bureau of Highway Safety in Maine. Other area agencies are also involved
like Westbrook for example. They are doing roadblocks, according to Fulton.

Windham has had 52 OUI arrests so far
this year. Around 15 additional OUI arrests is what Fulton estimates they will
have by January 1st. “The weather is not really cooperating with
us,” he said. “It’s apparently keeping the drunks at home. I think a lot of
people are award of the effort. That would be the best sign,” he added.

Local
media outlets have been getting the word out to the communities about this
program and Windham Police have posted information on its Facebook page and on
the town website. “The public should be informed that departments are out there
looking for drunk drivers,” Fulton said.

“It’s
not like people intend to go out and kill someone,” Fulton said, but it does
happen when one is drinking and driving.

Fulton
recalled an event that happened just as he started working for Windham. A woman
was on her way home as she crossed the intersection of River Road and Route 202
when she was hit head on by a drunk driver and killed. It was 5 p.m. on
Christmas Eve and her car was filled with presents for her young children.

Windham
is also in the running for a $10,000 grant for speed enforcement, he said. We
were chosen to apply because of the high number of accidents Windham has every
year. The five year average is 477 accidents. The program will begin on January
2, so Fulton is hoping to hear next week if the department has the grant. The
detail would run between January and September.

Christopher Adams who is 13, attends the REAL School, a part
of RSU14 on Mackworth Island in Falmouth. The seventh grader said that math is
his favorite subject, but his hobbies involve computer repair and video games.

“When I grow up I want to be a technology guy who fixes
computers,” Adams said.

“Taking initiative and ownership
of their own learning projects is the highest level of performance we can hope
for from our students. This is exactly what Chris has done with his service to
Meals on Wheels. Chris heard about the opportunity and volunteered to take on
this project that delivers meals to homes in Freeport. I see a deep level of
empathy and a sense of purpose in his work. Chris is new to us this year, and
we are so happy with the way he has embodied our positive philosophies,” said
AmeriCorps teacher volunteer Evan
Joseph Kumagae.

“I like school so that I can spend time with friends, but
education is important so that I can live a successful life,” Adams said. When
he’s not in school, he’s home helping his mom, Marlene and playing video games
with his siblings, Cody, Aaliyah, Steven, Jamie, Josh and David. He also lives
with his father Dave Adams.

“I just started volunteering with Meals on Wheels, and I
enjoy getting connected with the elderly residents,” Adams said.

December 17, 2013

Windham
– December 5, 2013 – Mechanics Savings Bank donated $1,250 to the Sebago Lake
Rotary Club. The funds will be used to support the 2014 Sebago Lake Derby on
February 15-16th. The Ice fishing derby is a major fundraiser that benefits
such charities as Camp Sunshine, DARE, Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife,
Maine Children’s Cancer Program and many others. The derby is a nationally
recognized event and is Maine’s largest ice fishing derby.

Mechanics
Savings Bank was founded in 1875, as a mutual savings bank and has branches in
Auburn, Brunswick, Lewiston and Windham. The bank remains committed to giving
back to the communities it serves through charitable giving and volunteerism.
In the past year, the bank supported more than 90 non-profit organizations with
donations, scholarships, and sponsorships. Last year, the staff of 75
employees, volunteered more than 4,530 hours to organizations within
Androscoggin and Cumberland counties.

Local artist Diana Libby, who once owned The Broad Board
on Route 302 in Windham, held an open house to share her latest paintings of
Windham and Maine landscapes and renditions of scenes from books and poetry on
Wednesday afternoon in her South Windham apartment.

She is inspired by history of the community and her
family to paint with acrylics, often using photos from the past to paint by. Presently
she is motivated by the writings of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a Maine poet
and her own genealogy. She has painted numerous sailing schooners that were
sailed by her relatives. She has also been the artist on display at the Windham
Public Library.